New York’s constitution doesn’t say anything specific about “video lottery terminals,” which are just a legalistic shade away from slot machines. That didn’t stop a state court in Albany from this week declaring them unconstitutional.

The state constitution requires that all revenue from state-run lotteries “be applied exclusively to or in aid or support of education.” That’s disingenuous. Every dollar of lottery revenue simply frees up for other uses money in the general funds that otherwise would have gone to education. The real beneficiary of state-operated lotteries is the state treasury. That’s why in the fall 2001, facing a slumping economy and a state budget gap, Governor Pataki moved to expand legalized gambling in New York.

In this case, Dalton v. Pataki, a coalition of gambling opponents sued to strike down key parts of that law. They argued that the lottery terminals, Indian-operated casinos, and New York’s participation in the multi-state Mega Millions lottery were all prohibited under the state’s constitution. The state’s constitution prohibits most forms of gambling, but a 1966 amendment allows state-operated lotteries, with the stipulation that revenues go to education. And since then, legislators and the courts have interpreted the term “lottery” loosely, to include video lottery terminals that look, sound, and act like slot machines.

The court struck down the part of the 2001 law authorizing these devices not because they were inherently illegal, but because it said that under the 2001 law not all of the revenue generated by the machines went to education. The problem? In an effort to shore up the ailing industry, racetracks were directed under the law to use a portion of the revenue generated by the machines to increase purses for winners and to bolster breeding funds. That, Justice Thomas Mercure wrote, was unconstitutional. The other justices concurred. The Court of Appeals could reverse the decision. And even if it is upheld, the court left lawmakers the option of rewriting the legislation.

It’s hard to argue with the judges for enforcing the state’s constitution. Mr. Pataki has announced he plans to appeal. Here’s hoping he reconsiders. Instead of pressing the legal fight or ramming through the video gambling machines in a new version of the legislation, Mr. Pataki and the lawmakers in Albany would do better to take the opportunity to make the tough choices they avoided the first time around and balance the budget by cutting spending rather than placing a bet on gambling.